The|MULTIVERSE

EPISODE 29: The Last Leg... Literally

Ricven and Hanakin best do something quick, or Cornelius would end up completely mad by the demon Machiavel's lurid smog.

It wasn't rocket science. As Ricven and Hanakin evaded the trigger happy Cornelius—who effortlessly hunted the two through the thick of the crazy fog—they both witnessed Cornelius change by the moments. The fog affected him severely. His alabaster skin marred in what appeared to be living flesh-like veins growing upon his skin like coral branches, and his eyes, no longer an evil gold light, became veiled in a cloudy spectacle of madness.

What sealed the psycho-deal was that manic grin on his lips. Never has Ricven seen Cornelius grin wide and toothy before.

That spooked the pure fuck out of him.

Cornelius managed to divide the two as he fired wild with a violent approach. Ricven and Hanakin had no choice but to part and figure out some way to rip their faithful ally out of that vile influence, all while shirking the shards of enchanted rock from shredding their hides.

Machiavel chuckled along, the only demon audience digging his own show of panic as he pitted his enemies' ally against them. Surprising, though, how the two multiversers succeeded in their refraining from dispatching Cornelius. To do so would cost a life, Cornelius' life, and who knew what tricks lived in Machiavel's sleeves aside from that.

"What will it be, MULTIVERSERS?!" Machiavel cried amused and in such colorful words. "Salvation by death, or die by the hand of your own?!"

The taunts never ended throughout their misfortune.

"What're we going to do?!" Fae said still in Ricven's head, watching the crisis unfold through Ricven's celestial eyes as Cornelius stretched an arm forth and one his gun barrels inched up on Ricven's face. Cornelius missed the moment he fired over the nimble bend of Ricven's evasive steps, and before Ricven could spin and find his controlled friend, Cornelius vanished!

"We can't let him continue, that's for sure," said Ricven, who... shockingly...had no idea. "I wanna smack'em, but that probably won't do shit." He waited for Cornelius to come at him again. Edge Breaker bright and tight in his right clutch, his nerves noted the high levels of nethra in the chamber. With each thrum of the senses, Cornelius was near, but a bigger pang to the guts told Ricven that Machiavel was everywhere.

"Hanakin!" He shouted. "Any bright ideas?!"

No word from Hanakin. Not that she was much of a talker anyways—which wasn't always Hanakin. Long ago, she had a mouth, and that mouth was just as fierce now as it was back then. Only when compelled on her own would she spare a sentence or more, but now, in this Grade-A Predicament, words were meaningless.

It got a little too silent for his ears.

"Hanakin?!" Ricven called again, then an explosion of bullets popped off.

Through the smog, Ricven discovered the busy silhouettes of Cornelius and Hanakin locked in a breakneck dance battle—minus the busting moves. Ricven pierced the showy veil of colors, and he saw the leaping gunsmith and wicked woman strike, bob, weave, and bounce about each other. Each shot of Cornelius' dual pistols meant a parry from Hanakin. Her daggers deflected his bullets. Demon-eating rounds versus demon-eating blades forged from the ebon teeth of an abysmal elder demon. The shards pricked but never tore.

Not one shot of Cornelius succeeded, nor did a hungry edge of Hanakin's blades discover flesh. She wouldn't dare harm him, they battled to the edges of hell and back together, but now—in this hectic moment—Cornelius was dead set on ending Hanakin... Hard.

Cornelius stayed on her. Hanakin embraced defense. When Cornelius got close, he tried to dig his guns into her frame, to fill her carcass with scalding hot demonbane. Hanakin parried as if his guns were blades, and they fought as if in a full-blown knife fight—with occasional quick pulls of the trigger from Cornelius.